The most well-known way of nitrogen loss from agricultural ecosystems is the volatilization of ammonia from soil. However, nitrogen loss through above-ground parts of plants is one issue not well-known and not so much evaluated and quantified. In this way one experiment was carried out with the aim of quantifying nitrogen in different growth stages of wheat plants as an indicator of nitrogen losses through above-ground parts. The experimental design was completely randomized with factorial 2 x 3 (two nitrogen rates: 180 and 300mg of nitrogen per pot, and three harvest times: pre-anthesis, post-anthesis and physiological maturity) with four repetitions, totalizing 24 plots. Pots were used contained 4kg of Rhodic Hapludox. The nitrogen source was ammonium sulphate labeled with 3 atoms % of 15N. Aderease of N derived from fertilizer-15N in the wheat plants were verified and can be related to the NH3-N losses from the aerial part of the plants. These losses represented about 25mg per pot (approximately 12kg N ha-1) and 36mg per pot (approximately 18kg N ha-1), respectively, for the N rates: 180 and 300mg N per pot. The highest losses were verified during both stages of post-anthesis and maturity, with 8.4 and 6.8% of total nitrogen applied to the lowest and the highest applied doses.
15N; ammonia emmission; nitrogen cycle
